Does a student’s personality relate to his or her academic performance? According to recent research, (Poropat, 2009) it does. In investigating predictors of academic performance, the author reviewed many studies from the current literature, a process known as a meta analysis, and ultimately evaluated a sample of over 70,000 students.
THE RESEARCH STUDY
For personality, the investigator focused on the “big five” traits: extraversion, which relates to how outgoing someone is; openness, which relates to the level of curiosity; agreeableness, which is similar to levels of compassion and warmth; conscientiousness, which refers to the drive to succeed; and neuroticism, which relates to how secure someone feels.
The author found that agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness was associated with improved academic performance. Conscientiousness seemed particularly important, as its relationship with academic performance was as strong as the relationship between intelligence and academic performance.
THE BOTTOM LINE
These results provide further evidence that personality is related to academic performance, and it follows that personality should be related to performance in other domains, such as business. So, as you decide whom to hire, make sure to account for personality in addition to other commonly used factors, such as the applicant’s resume, references, and prior work experience.
Poropat, A. E. (2009). A meta-analysis of the five-factor model of personality and academic performance. Psychological Bulletin, 135 (2), 322-338.
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